


we make each other alive (does it matter if it hurts)

by Laureliar



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Henry Mills (Once Upon a Time), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Friends With Benefits, Minor Belle/Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Season 1 canon divergence, honestly the enemy shit is deemphasized, i don't like writing them fighting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-22 16:02:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30041205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laureliar/pseuds/Laureliar
Summary: Wherein Regina and Emma hookup immediately post chainsaw scene and do not stop hooking up for the rest of the season. Runs kind of next to canon for awhile before diverging completelyRegina wants Emma Swan to get the fuck out of Storybrooke. Regina is also desperately bored and lonely. Miss Swan is the biggest challenge she's had in years. The light in her eyes makes Regina feel alive, maybe having a rival can be fun.Emma just wants to check on the kid and get back to Boston unscathed, hooking up with his hot mom is totally just a side bonus. She can totally ignore the weird things she notices about Storybrooke, and Henry, and Regina. She's totally gonna leave soon.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Henry Mills & Emma Swan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 67





	1. Prologue (Regina)

**Author's Note:**

> I have 12 chapters written so these updates are gonna come fast and furious. Regina is a little ooc for season one cause I think if you spent 28 years in a frozen town your angry would abate a little and be replaced by like... boredom. She's still an asshole though

Regina can recognize when she has made a mistake. Okay, Regina sometimes has problems recognizing when she has made a mistake. This time she gets it though. She should not have had sex with Emma Swan. Seeing Emma in that tank top, wielding that chainsaw had triggered something in Regina. Spending twenty eight years sexless in a town full of zombies does something to a woman. Emma is like a bucket of ice water. Emma is like a stick of dynamite, tossed into Regina’s carefully constructed life. 

“That... was so fucked up.” Regina is proud of how breathless Emma sounds. She turns to study Emma. She is sprawled inelegantly across Regina’s bed. She is making no attempts to cover herself. Regina fixates on the bitemark just over Emma’s left breast that is turning deeper red and purple nearly before her eyes.

“Yes quite.” Regina says in agreement. Emma turns to look at her. She is studying her, in her inquisitive way. Regina knows Emma Swan does not trust her. She shouldn’t. Regina certainly will not trust Emma Swan. When Emma’s eyes finally meet Regina's, her breath catches. Her eyes have shifted from searching to something else. Her eyes had looked like this when there were standing nose to nose under Regina’s mutilated tree, and when she’d carried Regina up the flight of stairs, and in that tense moment in Regina’s bedroom as Regina unzipped her own dress.

“You’re insane” Emma says, probably with less bite than she intended.

“It is a common critique I receive.” Regina purrs smoothly. She stretches a little just so she can feel Emma’s eye rake over her with much more admiration than suspicion this time.

“You set me up for a crime.”

She had. It was a clever idea, she had to give herself credit. This is the most stimulated Regina has felt in years. With no outlet for her considerable rage and intellect she had spent the better part of the first eighteen years of the curse learning increasingly ridiculous hobbies to keep her mind busy. She could now debone a fish, play the harmonica, and river dance. This was far more fun. “Everything I do, I do for Henry’s good.” It is not an admission or a denial. 

“You don’t need to protect him from me. I was just bringing him back.”

“Yet you’re still here.”

“I’m not trying to steal your kid.”

“Yet you’re still here.”

“He’s clearly harbouring delusions though. I’m not leaving till I know he’s okay.”

“Why do you think he’s in therapy?” Regina grumbles. Emma snorts. “Now get out of my house, I have to tend to my poor tree.” Emma at least has the decency to blush a little. 

“Do I really have to leave  _ right now?  _ We could...” She trails off with intention.

Regina has to look away from Emma’s intense gaze or she will agree to her proposition. “Absolutely not.” She says, even though the idea of another round was immensely appealing to her.

Emma gets up with a put upon sigh. Her pants are hanging off the dresser. Regina remembers throwing them (they had been in her way), but did not realize she had thrown them that far. Emma’s shirt and bra are in the foyer. She briefly looks at Regina like she expects help with this situation. Regina of course offers her nothing. Emma rolls her eyes and grabs one of Regina’s own shirts.

“I thought we had learned a lesson about stealing things Miss Swan.”

“Oh my god you’re insane” She puts on Regina’s shirt anyways. “I’m not walking down to your front door with my tits out.”

“Maybe you should have thought of that before you left your clothes down there.”

“You’re the one who took my bra off.” Emma snaps back. Regina shrugs. “You’re a real treat Madame Mayor.” Emma stalks out of Regina's bedroom. Moments later Regina can hear her front door slam shut. What a childish woman. 

* * *

Emma did not leave her shirt behind when she left and Regina considers briefly doing something petty about it. As much fun as that would be, it would not serve her long term goal of never seeing Emma Swan’s stupid face again. She can’t let herself get caught up in the amusement of messing with the Saviour. She has to take more decisive actions that are going to drive Emma back to Boston rather than back into her bed. 

She spent the first couple years of the curse doing things to make Snow White miserable, but that eventually lost its joy when she realized that the next day Snow always forgot what had happened the day before. Even revelling in Snow’s separation from Charming lost its joy when she realized Snow didn’t understand what she was missing. 

As a result she had years of unused schemes. Henry’s attachment to Miss Swan did complicate things a little. She couldn’t just use brute force to drive Emma out. Additionally Emma seemed to push back against her shows of force. She had to convince Henry that Emma didn’t want him, convince Emma that Henry didn’t need her, and send Emma back to Boston. It was distressing that the clock had started again, but perhaps if more time started passing within the curse, Henry could be convinced that there was no curse at all.

* * *

Henry comes home while she was harvesting the apples off of her fallen tree branch. He frowns “What happened?” 

“Just an accident dear.” She says sweetly. She’d have to be much more subtle when she slandered Emma Swan in front of Henry. Perhaps she’d have to be more careful of all her behaviours in front of Henry. How could he think she was the Evil Queen if she proved herself to be the perfectly nice, perfectly normal mother he’d grown up with?

He frowns at her and scurries inside. “Please start your homework before dinner.” She calls after him. That was a successful interaction. He hadn’t even yelled at her. She straightens her posture and picks up the basket of apples. She could keep Henry and get rid of Miss Swan and keep the curse intact. If Emma could go from wielding a chainsaw and screaming to whispering ‘is this okay’ in under ten minutes, how strong willed could she really be?


	2. Emma gets Hallmarked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emma get Hallmarked (or I desperately try to remember the essential plot points of season 1)

Emma can’t believe she’s living out of her car again. Apparently Granny’s can’t host criminals. What a fucking joke. As if this whole thing wasn’t Regina’s fault. She got up and walked around the side of the car to adjust the seats. A sane person would at least let Emma bum a night’s sleep in her bed after they fucked. But no, Emma had to have sex with Mayor crazy, in the middle of the day. “Emma?” a voice calls from down the street.

“Ms. Blanchard?” It’s Henry’s teacher. She helped Emma two days ago when she was trying to find Henry.

“Please call me Mary Margaret. Are you okay?”

“Yeah... I’m totally fine.” Emma is not sure if she’s convincing. Mary Margaret raises her eyebrow and she knows she is not. “I’m just hunkering down for the night.” She gestures at her car with a stiff motion. 

“In your car?”

“Yeah... Granny’s kicked me out.” She knows everyone has heard about her car crash and about her  _ ‘stealing’ _ Henry’s file by now.

“Oh, I’m sorry...” Emma hates pity. Emma hates pity coming from put together, preppy looking people like Mary Margaret. “You know I’ve been looking for a roommate.”

“Oh that’s...” There are a lot of things Emma could say here, insane, an overreach. “I don’t know how long I’m going to stay.”

“Well you could just pay for an equivalent of however long you stay. I’m not trying to trap you into a lease or anything.” Mary Margaret says. She talks like everything in the world is simple and people are just nice. Everyone in this town talks like that, except Regina.

“You don’t even know me. I could be a serial killer.”

“You’re not. Mary Margaret smiles. “You’re good people and Henry adores you, and he’s such a smart kid. Nobody has stood up to Regina in… years… I don’t even remember. It’s nice to have you around.”

“I won’t be here for long.” Because she can’t stay here with this kid that isn’t hers in this town where people say hi to each other on the street. It’s weird how happy people are that she’s stood up to Regina. If she’s this universally unpopular surely the town wouldn’t elect her as mayor.

“Well, you can stay with me until you leave.”

* * *

So the first night she sleeps in her car is also promised to be the last night she sleeps in her car. Mary Margaret tries to convince her to sleep on her couch that night but it’s too much for Emma. 

She stretches and washes her face in Granny’s bathroom the next morning. Apparently Granny’s has no problem serving her food, it’s just the room that is the problem. By the time she’s eating her morning bear claw, she is grumpy and she smells awful.

When the Sheriff sits down next to her she bristles. He’s been like Regina’s weird brooding shadow since Emma got here and she does not want to deal with it. “You were a bounty hunter in Boston?” He says the statement of fact like a question.

“And...?” Emma takes a bite of her bear claw.

“You said you were good at finding things.”

“And...?”

“You found Henry when he ran away the other day.” Emma is getting a little sick of this guy’s whole thing. “I could really use a Deputy.”

Emma almost spit out her coffee. “Did Regina put you up to this?”

He chuckled. “Definitely not. Regina wants you to disappear.” 

“Then what is this?”

“You have relevant experience. I think you’d be good at it.” What is it with these people and trying to trap her here?

“I’m not staying.”

“Okay.” He chuckles again. “I’m sure, but if you do, you’ve got a job.” Why does no one believe that she’s going to leave?

“No thanks.” Emma stands to leave.

“Just think about it.” He calls after her. Emma thinks about christmas movies, the kinds that play on the channels that come with standard cable packages. The big city girl always gets trapped in the small town through social pressure like job offers and romantic prospects and elementary school teachers that try to forcefully befriend her. Hallmark! She’s being hallmarked, the only thing missing is a dashing romantic prospect.

* * *

Regina is fluffing her perfectly coiffed bob with an uninterested expression on her face as if Emma had not been fucking her over her desk a few minutes ago. “I’ve got a meeting.” She says shortly, holding her hand out. Emma realizes she is still holding Regina’s underwear in her hand.

“You know you could be a little nicer.” She says, still not giving them back.

“Please. You’re lucky I don’t take out a restraining order against you. I know you’ve seen Henry behind my back.” 

That was objectively not Emma’s fault. Henry sought her out. “Why haven’t you done that yet?” Emma snaps.

“I don’t think it’s necessary.” Regina perches on the corner of her desk, amid the scattered papers. “Mr. Glass did some research on you when he was reporting on your car accident. You clearly live a vagabond lifestyle. You’ll be gone soon.”

Emma hates her. Emma hates her stupid hair and her stupid voice. Emma hates that she’s been planning the most graceful time to make her exit since the moment she got here. “I almost forgot about your weird stalking thing.”

“I don’t control Mr. Glass' research or anything the Mirror publishes.” It is very Regina, a half truth, a calculated statement. 

“He’s your lapdog.”

“Mr. Glass has always had a particular fascination with me. I’ve never done  _ anything  _ to encourage it.” The lilt Regina puts on anything is dangerous. Pretty girls have always made Emma little stupid and damn if Regina isn’t the prettiest girl Emma has ever seen. She is also dangerous and infuriating and something else that Emma can’t quite put her finger on. “Anyways, I’ve decided you are too irresponsible for me to consider you a threat. I just have to wait you out.”

“Fuck off.” Emma snaps.

“You’re the one in my office Miss Swan.” Shit. She was. She stuffs Regina’s underwear into the pocket of her jacket, purely out of spite, purely because Regina wanted them back. Regina opens her mouth to say another rude or annoying thing. Emma storms off before she has the chance. 

* * *

She’s seething when she gets to her car. She doesn’t even know how she ended having sex with Regina again. She doesn’t even know how she ended up having sex with Regina the first time. She needs to brush her teeth. Her mouth still tastes like Regina, it’s making focus hard. It’s hard to brush your teeth when you’re living out of your car. Fuck Regina for being right. 

She is sitting in the passenger seat of her car, trying to figure out if she can sneak her toothbrush into the diner bathroom when the walkie talkie Henry gave her crackles to life. “Emma, are you there? Over.”

“What’s up? Over?”

“You need to come to the hospital right now, over.”

“Are you hurt or something? Does your mom know?” Emma’s heart jumps into her throat. God she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to the kid.

“You have to say over so I know you’re done talking, over.” His little tinny voice rings through the car 

“Are. You. Okay? Over.”

“Yeah it’s not me. Ashley got into a car crash trying to leave town, and now she’s having her baby and Mr. Gold is going to come take it cause he has a contract. You’re the Saviour, you have to come help her. Over”

“Hold on kid, no one can take anyone’s baby... over.” She’s seen Ashley around town a couple times. Teen mom, Henry thinks she’s Cinderella, what a shitty fairytale that would be.

“Just get here before Mr. Gold does, over and out.”

* * *

Emma speeds to the hospital because what else can she do? Henry is waiting in the hallway. “What are you doing here? Where’s your mom?” She knew where Regina was. She had left her in her office.

“I’m supposed to go to town hall after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Graham watches me till mom is done working. He’s not very smart though. They won’t even notice I was gone.”

“Well I don’t even know why we’re here. 

“Ashley is Cinderella so she doesn’t have a lot of money cause her happy ending is gone. She made a deal with Mr. Gold but now he’s going to take her baby cause of the deal and you just can’t let him.”

“That’s not how deals work?” Emma is not super sure on the legality of taking babies but she’s pretty sure that you can’t just do that.Emma remembers giving birth to Henry. Even though she’d already told everyone she was putting Henry up for adoption, everyone had been eager to remind her it wasn’t too late to change her mind right up to the moment they took him away.

Gold comes strutting down the hallway like he’s been summoned. Henry is tugging at her jacket hem like this is proof his whole crazy theory has been right. She tucks him behind her just a little, not because she believes him, just because she doesn’t trust Gold. He has papers in his hand.

“This is not happening.” She says it out loud. She can see Ashley’s signature on the paper Gold is holding.

“If anyone could understand the reasons for giving up a baby I’d assumed it’d be you.” He says it in a smooth voice and Emma does everything she can to not look at Henry

“You’re not getting that kid.”

“Actually we have an agreement. My agreements are always honoured. If not I’m going to have to involve the police, and that baby is going to end up in the system. And that would be a pity, you didn’t enjoy your time in the system did you Emma?” She wants to vomit. She wants to tell him to keep her name out of his mouth.

“It’s not going to happen.”

“I like your confidence, it’s charming, especially when all I have to do is press charges. Miss Boyd broke into my shop”

“Let me guess, to steal a contract?” 

“Who knows what she was after.”

“No jury in the world is going to put a woman in jail whose only reason for breaking and entering was to keep her child. I’m willing to roll the dice that contract doesn’t hold up, are you? Not to mention what might come out about you in the process.” Gold is sleazy, Emma can smell that shit from a mile away. If he’ll steal a baby in public, what is he doing in private?

“I like you Miss Swan. You’re not afraid of me which is either cocky or presumptuous. Either way I'd rather have you on my side.”

“So she keeps the baby?”

“There’s still the matter of my contract.”

“Tear it up.”

“That’s not what I do. See contracts, deals, are the foundation of human civilization. So I put it to you, if you want Ashley to keep her baby, are you willing to make a deal with me?”

She is but she doesn’t get a chance to respond. “Henry, you’re supposed to be at town hall.” Regina is suddenly marching at them in full force.

“Yes, run along Henry.” Gold hisses. 

“No!” Henry stomps his foot. “Emma is saving Ashley’s baby cause she’s a good person. I don’t want to just leave.” Oh to have the simple world view of a kid. She was mostly doing this because she was here, and because Gold’s words spiked the guilt that constantly bubbled in her gut.

“Miss Swan and I were just making a deal. Now you can take the childand leave us to our business.”

Something in Regina’s eyes flashed. She looked from Gold to Emma to Henry and back again. She approached Gold slowly and with menace. She stopped too close to him. She gritted her teeth in the exact same way that he did when she spoke. “Were you now?”

“Of course, and the specifics are none of your business.”

“That’s not going to be happening.” Emma doesn’t know why Regina is doing this.

“Well I suppose Ms. Boyd and I have a problem then.”

“No. You don’t. This contract won’t hold up. Ms. Boyd will leave this hospital with her baby. I’d like to see you try and call Graham and get him on your side here. Better yet, call the state police, try and get them to come to Storybrooke. See how that works for you.” Does Regina have a deal with the state police? “Henry, Miss Swan, we’re leaving.” She starts walking away and Gold seems sufficiently kowtowed that Emma and Henry follow her.

The kid is stunned almost as stupid as Emma is. Neither of them talk as they march out of the hospital. “Henry. You absolutely can not continue to run away without my knowledge.”

“I called Emma. She was watching me.”

“You are not allowed to call Emma without consulting me. I need to know where you are.”

“Emma’s my real mom, she’s a good guy. You just don’t want her here because she’s going to break your curse.” Emma flinches a little this time. Regina had just helped them technically. Even if it stemmed from a dislike of Gold more so than a desire to help Ashley or Emma.

“Miss Swan, consider this your official warning. If you make a deal with Gold from here on out, it is on you.” She stopped short and rounded on Emma to emphasize her words. “Henry, we’re going home.”

Emma watches them go. Maybe she can delay her leaving for a while longer. She’s not totally comfortable leaving Henry in this weird town without further investigation. As soon as she’s sure Storybrooke is normal small town weird and nothing worse she’ll go. Maybe this town does need a Deputy who didn’t belong to Gold or Regina. She could always quit when she leaves. 


	3. Regina is not going to cry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to hold off on posting chapters when they're all written already
> 
> @everyone who doesn't filter works by complete: everything I do, I do for you. Y'all are the reason I finish all my works even when I kinda want to abandon them

Regina has not been having a good week. It’s Emma Swan’s fault. By the time she arrives at the mine there is already a crowd of people. “Everybody step back.” How are they all stupid enough to crowd around an unstable mine shaft? “Graham set up a police perimeter.” She can see him there talking to Miss Swan. This mine shaft was fine for 28 years and now it has to go and collapse. “Miss Swan you can leave now. This is official town business.” Regina has decided that there are only two times she wants to see Emma Swan. One, when they are having sex (though honestly Regina doesn’t need to see her for that to be enjoyable). And two, when she is driving out of this town for good in her stupid yellow car.

“Well I work for the town now.”

“She’s my deputy.” The stupid doe eyed man says.

“I see the Mayor is always the last to know.” She liked Graham better when she was controlling him. Where did she put his heart? Maybe she should take that out of storage.

“I have the budget for it.” He says it as if Regina gives a shit about the budget.

“Indeed. Deputy, why don’t you go make yourself useful.” She addresses the crowd that still hasn’t dispersed, idiots. She starts spinning her plan to collapse and pave over the mine shaft.

Henry pushes through the crowd. Why would that cricket let him come here? “Pave it? What if there’s something down there?”

“What are you doing here?” She kneels down and whispers

“What’s down there.”

“Step back. In fact everyone, please step back.” She stands to her full height and puts her mayor voice back on. Henry is not stepping back. “Henry go wait in the car.” She hisses. “This is a safety issue.” 

By the time she finishes talking to Graham, Henry is out of the car and talking to Archie and Emma. “Henry get in the car, Emma go do your job.” Emma was holding the caution tape in her hands like a lump.

She takes a cathartic moment to yell at Archie. He insists that Henry’s imagination is not the problem, and that they shouldn’t try to rip away the world he’s constructed. Regina wants nothing more than to rip away the world wherein she is the villain in Henry’s mind. She tells Archie this in no uncertain terms. She makes sure he knows that she has the power to destroy his life in this town. What’s the point of him if Henry still thinks she’s evil. Isn’t he supposed to fix that. All these people do is humour him. She knows the curse won’t allow her to do anything too drastic to the cricket (unless she decides to kill him) but he doesn’t know that.

* * *

Emma shows up at 1:12 am that night. Regina is swirling the cider in her glass. She doesn’t like how she feels when she drinks. She’s learned better than to dull her senses. She likes having something to hold though. She knows it’s Emma when she hears the knocking on her front door. No one else would have the gall to come here at this hour. 

She undoes her robe on the way to the door so when she answers it the silk robe is hanging elegantly from her shoulders and Emma gets an eyeful of her fancy nightgown underneath. “Deputy.” She says casually, leaning against the doorframe. Emma is wearing her stupid leather jacket and staring at Regina’s breasts.

“God you’re so annoying” Emma says breathlessly. Before Regina can formulate a response Emma has backed her up against a wall and started kissing her. Regina drops her glass so she can respond with both hands. If it breaks Regina doesn’t notice. 

Emma has shucked her jacket off and Regina is glad for the greater access to her biceps. Emma has her hand on the side of Regina’s neck and is pushing her chin up with her thumb. Regina thinks she might scream in frustration if Emma stops biting her neck, and clavicle, and the swell of her breast. Regina drops her own robe and is about to wiggle out of her nightdress when Emma stops everything she is doing to grab Regina’s wrists and pull her hands away from the fastening of her dress. “Let me.” She whispers.

In a moment Regina is fully naked in front of Emma. The door is ajar because no one closed it and the night air makes Regina shiver. Emma is just staring at her and Regina is not going to be the first one to back down. 

By the time they tire themselves out it is 3:45 and the cold tile feels like bliss against Regina’s sweaty skin. “Get out of here before the sun rises.” Regina commands cooly as she stands up and wraps herself in her robe. Regina has been far more considerate than Emma this time. Any marks on Emma’s body can be easily hidden by her regular clothes. Regina on the other hand has to contend with a very dark hickey obnoxiously high on her neck. Emma barely acknowledges her and Regina glides upstairs to take a shower.

* * *

Emma Swan has lost her child. When she calls Emma to confirm this fact Emma is yelling about Archie and what Regina said to him and what he said to Henry. It serves her right for getting too comfortable with the woman’s presence. “I’m talking about Henry.” Regina finally erupts. She can’t even be trusted to drop him off at her office without letting him disappear down a degrading mineshaft. 

They have a perimeter set up. Regina stands far away with some of the rescue workers. She can’t look at Emma and she can’t look at the blocked entry to the mineshaft. This is every one of her nightmares all at once. She can picture his little body after they pull it out from the rubble

The ground rumbles again and against all reason Regina throws herself towards where people are working at the blockage. “Stop! Stop! You’re making it worse.”

“I am trying to save him.” Emma hollars back, as if she was even talking to her. “You know why he went down there in the first place don’t you? Because you made him feel like he had something to prove.”

“I don’t think he has anything to prove. You’re the one who is encouraging him.”

“Do not put this on me.” Emma’s voice is low and dangerous as if she wasn’t trying to put this on Regina a second ago. When had Emma gotten so close to her?

“Please, lecture me till the logic runs out.” She screams in Emma’s face. Her voice breaks at the end and she has to turn away before Emma sees her cry. Even now she can’t show weakness.

Emma follows her as she walks away. “We have to stop this.”  _ Then get out of my town.  _ “Arguing won’t accomplish anything.”  _ Then why are you arguing with me? _

She takes a deep breath and turns to face Emma. “No it won’t.” For all her hatred of Emma she trusts that she wants Henry safe. They can do at least this together.

“What do you want to do?” Emma is deferring to her but nothing in her brain is lining up properly. 

“Help me.” She says lowly.

When they detonate the explosives and the mineshaft doesn't open up Regina does the only thing that feels reasonable, starts yelling at the rescue worker. Maybe if all these idiots didn’t get their on-job knowledge from a curse they’d be more competent. “What the hell was that?” She shouts as she runs towards them. “You said you knew how to do this.”

Emma is hot on her heels. She grabs her by the crook of the elbow. Regina does not like it when Emma touches her in public. The casualness of it feels vastly more intimate than anything else they’ve ever done. “Madam Mayor.” 

“They could’ve killed my son.” Regina rounds on her to shout.

“I know but this isn’t helping.” Looking at Emma was a mistake. There’s a little too much concern in her green eyes for Regina to bear. She turns away again and braces herself against the tailgate of the pickup truck. People are talking but Regina can’t hear it. She covers her face with her hands and tries to swallow the bubbling sobs.  _ Don’t be weak. Don’t be weak. Don’t be weak.. _

It’s Emma who gets Pongo out of the truck and it’s Pongo who sniffs out the second shaft. The grate comes off easily and traitorous hope spikes in Regina’s chest. They can run a line straight down. “Lower me down.” She declares

“No way.” Emma says, and Regina is done being grateful for her presence.

“He’s my son.”

“He’s my son too.” Emma says. “You’ve been sitting behind a desk for ten years, I can do this.” Emma doesn’t need to know that it’s been twenty eight years since rode a horse or swung a sword (formerly her two biggest sources of exercise).

She doesn’t have the energy to fight this. She steps into Emma’s space and she sucks in a breath like she always does. “Just bring him to me.” She knows Emma can see the tears in her eyes and she doesn’t care anymore. Their foreheads are almost touching. She tracks Emma’s gaze as it flickers across her face, from her eyes to her lips and back again. Emma is the first one to turn away.

She knows she is not coherent when Henry and Emma emerge from the well with Archie attached to a lead line below them. He hugs her back for a moment right when his feet touch the ground. She can’t stop touching his perfect face. When Emma stumbles over to them she lets her hover and dote over Henry for exactly thirty seconds. Emma positions herself over Regina's shoulder. She puts one hand on Regina’s shoulder and the other on Henry’s. Regina wants to vomit or cry.

When her count reaches twenty she pulls away from Emma. She can’t take the implications that the three of them are a team. It’s a lie and Emma must know that. “It’s time for Henry to come home.” Night is falling. He needs to eat and shower and drink a lot of water. He was down there for so long he must be thirsty and starving.

“Regina.” Emma grabs her by the crook of the elbow again. When she tries to walk by her. Emma sounds concerned, not angry. 

“Don’t touch me.” Regina shakes herself free.

* * *

He is solemn and silent. He eats all the food Regina gives him and she coaxes him into drinking a litre of water. She does not lecture or scold. She can’t bring herself to when she’s so happy to see him alive. It’s still painful that he’s this silent and angry at her. She knows he didn’t find anything in the mineshaft. The bulk of her physical secrets are hidden in her vault.

* * *

Emma comes around at 10:00. It's almost recklessly early but Henry has been asleep for an hour already. “Are you okay?”

“Henry is fine.” Because that has to be what Emma really wants to know.

“I know.”

“He’s asleep.”

“Good. Are you okay?”

“I don’t want any part of whatever you’re doing here.” Regina gestures vaguely at Emma. They are not friends who ask each other if they are okay. Emma kisses her soft and slow and Regina lets herself fall into it. It’s her reward for not crying in front of the whole town today. She can have one nice thing in return.

Emma takes her by the hand and leads her deeper into the house. They both seem to be in agreement that Regina’s bedroom is off limits while Henry is asleep next door. Emma leads her to the large casual living room and sits on the couch. She pulls Regina down onto her lap. She lets Emma lead without contest this time and Emma moves slowly. She touches Regina's cheek and pushes her hair out of her face. It’s like she thinks she’s comforting Regina, she’s making Regina shake. Regina has never in her life been touched like this. 

She pushes Emma off of her the minute she comes down from her orgasm. The press of Emma’s hot skin makes her feel claustrophobic. She doesn’t say a word to Emma who lets herself be shoved away without protest. 

She locks herself in her main floor bathroom and lets out the sobs she’s been holding in all day. She is hiding from Emma Swan in her own house and she can’t stop crying. She hasn’t cried like this in years. Her body is possessed by it, it makes her whole body shake. She braces herself against the vanity. She can hear Emma knocking on the locked door. There is no way she is going to open that door. She has at least that much dignity intact 

“Regina, are you okay?” Regina is going to get violent if she asks her that one more time.

“Go away.” She cries. “Emma go away.” She knows Emma can hear how distressed she is. If she can get Emma out of her house without having to look her in the eyes that will be enough for Regina

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t want to see you.” Emma finally listens and Regina can cry in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my gf got mad at Emma in this chapter and I was like... babe... Regina is very much gaslighting Henry atm. Your Regina bias is showing


	4. Emma desecrates a grave

Out of necessity Emma spent much of her time with Graham over the next stretch of days. Regina had cracked down on Henry’s propensity to slip away after the mine incident. And Emma was a little afraid to see Regina herself. She had been furious at Regina for trying to force Archie to shut down Henry’s imaginary world, but the more Regina broke down over her son the more Emma had softened. By the time Emma got Henry out of the mine she was feeling triumphant. There was a moment when Emma was standing with Regina and Henry where she felt optimistic about their situation. The three of them could work together functionally. Their interaction that night had shattered her optimism

Spending time with Graham is fine. He’s kind of funny if a little stiff, and not as precious as Mary Margaret. Emma finds it easy to get her way when talking to Graham. It turns out that one actually does have to learn things when they become a Deputy so Emma spends a lot of time learning procedures. 

She gets to go back to the loft early that day. She read the entire stupid handbook and whined to Graham until he let her leave an hour earlier than she usually would have. She’s quite pleased with herself. If she has to have a boss it might as well be a boss she can manipulate. She feels so pleased that she wonders if maybe tonight is the night that she braves approaching Regina again. 

She opens the loft door and is affronted by the sight of Mary Margaret stradling coma man on their living room couch. They are both topless and oh my god.

“Oh my god!” Emma shouted, whirling back towards the door.

“Oh! Emma!” She could hear shuffling behind her as Mary Margaret attempted to right herself. Mary Margaret had been spending a lot of time with coma since he woke up, but if Emma remembered correctly, coma man's wife had shown up at the hospital yesterday and identified him.

“I’m going to Granny’s” Emma declared leaving as quickly as she arrived.

“Emma” Mary Margaret chased her out into the hallway. Thank god she had found a shirt. “It’s not what it looks like.”

“It’s none of my business.”

“Really it’s not what it looks like. David loves me.” So that was his name. Mary Margaret and David were some of the townspeople Henry was more interested in, that was the only reason she knew this much about coma man in the first place. Apparently they were Snow White and Prince Charming, nevermind that David’s wife was a lovely blonde lady named Kathryn. Apparently Mary Margaret wasn’t bothered by this fact either. “He’s going to leave his wife.”

Emma can’t help but scoff, they never leave their wives. “He promised me.” Mary Margaret insists

“Alright.” Emma says. “I’m still going to Granny’s. Put a sock on the door next time.”

* * *

Granny’s is too full. Graham is in the back throwing darts and Ruby sashays up to her and demands her order. “Can I just get a coffee to go?” She doesn’t really want to be here, she just didn’t want to be at the loft. 

“Stay and have a drink” Graham offers from his spot in front of the dartboard.

“No thanks.” Emma grabbed her to-go cup and handed Ruby her money. On her way out the door and dart lodged itself into the door jam right next the her face “What the fuck? You could have hit me?”

“I never miss.” Is this how Graham flirts? Gross. “Come back and have a drink.”

“I’ll pass.” It was far too early to go to Regina’s Henry would still be awake. But she could drink her coffee and kill a couple hours and then have a reasonably good night still.

She turns to leave and Graham still follows her out of the diner. “I’m not having a drink with you Graham.” She says, she in general wouldn’t mind it. He seems like a decent drinking buddy overall but tonight is just not the time. 

“I just need to talk to you.”

“If you need to talk so badly, go to Archie.” Emma snaps.

“I want to talk to you though.”

“Why me?”

“It’s just a feeling I-” He cut himself off by stepping forward into Emma’s space and missing her. She can feel his beard against her chin and she’s worried his hands are messing up her hair.

She took a step back, Graham jumped back from her at the exact same time. “What the hell was that?” He looked more surprised than she did, which didn’t seem appropriate for the situation.

“Did you see that?”

“How much have you been drinking? That was way over the line.”

“Sorry I just-”

“What? You what?”

“I just need to feel something.”

“Listen to me Graham you are drunk. Whatever you’re looking to feel you’re not getting it from me.” She turns to walk away and sees Regina and Henry across the street. Henry is looking at something in the opposite direction but Regina is looking over her shoulder, directly at Emma. Shit. She looks angry and maybe something else. She definitely saw that kiss. Shit. Emma was having such a good day until an hour ago.

* * *

Emma manages to wait till ten before she goes to Regina’s. Regina is more receptive of her visits the later she comes by, but Emma can’t stop thinking about the way Regina looked at her from across the street. 

When she gets there Graham is kissing Regina. The light from the foyer makes Regina’s hair glow. She has her hands up and it only takes her a second to push him away. Emma ducks so Regina can’t see her. She can see them yelling at each other now. Regina slams the massive front door and Graham storms off. Emma ducks deeper into the bushes but Graham is so determined to get out of there he doesn’t notice her. A second later she gets a text “I know you’re out there Miss Swan.” 

Shit. Emma was going to wait twenty minutes before knocking on the door, hoping that her night could go on as planned and both of them could pretend nothing weird had happened with Graham. She shuffles to the door. It’s unlocked so she opens it. 

Regina is in the kitchen with a glass of cider. Regina often has a glass of cider, but it’s always full and Emma has infrequently seen her take an actual sip. “Well now that I know what you do in the nights you’re not here a lot of things make sense.” Regina says cooly.

“What?” Is this the direction Regina was going with this? 

“I wondered why he hired you as a deputy when you had no skills or qualifications but now I guess-”

“Regina you’re being insane, I’m not sleeping with Graham.” Is Regina jealous? Graham had kissed her too. “He was drunk or something, he just kissed me in the middle of the street and started rambling about feeling things.”

“Yes I’m sure you make Sherif Humbert feel a great many things.” She sneers.

“You’re being unfair. He kissed you too.”

“Yes, I wish he hadn’t. I find him rather distasteful.”

“Me too!” Maybe that is an exaggeration. Graham was fine, she just didn’t particularly want to kiss him. “What is this argument even about?”

“What was it he said?” Regina’s tone is laced with sarcasm. “Something about it not being the same? Something about how you gave him visions? You’re perfectly adequate but visions are an exaggeration. You’re certainly nothing life changing.”

“Hey!” Emma likes to think she’s a little more than adequate. “I never had sex with Graham, you’re not listening to me.” Regina takes a deep swing of her glass of cider. “He’s just drunk. He said weird stuff to me too. I was planning on coming here tonight.”

“What makes you think you’d be welcome here?” Regina sneers. Emma smirks at her in response and Regina looks away. Emma can see movement at the corners of her mouth and she knows she’s smoothed this over successfully. 

“I don’t care what you do in your spare time Miss Swan, but I do not wish to contract any of the sexually transmitted diseases that are being spread among the commoners.”

God Regina really does talk like she’s royalty sometimes. What a pompous way to ask Emma if she’s sleeping with other people. It occurs to Emma just now that Regina’s jealousy has been about her, not about Graham. “Well it’s a good thing I’m not sleeping with any of the commoners then isn’t it?”

Regina turns back to Emma and appraises her. Emma resists the urge to squirm a little under the intense gaze. “Come here.” Regina whispers. Her voice is low and gravely. Emma walked around the island and swiveled the barstool Regina was sitting on so she could fit against Regina perfectly. Regina looks up at her and Emma gets lost in her dark eyes. “Well Deputy? I hear you can make people see into other dimensions.” Emma loves when Regina teases like this. It’s so perfectly dangerous.

“Shut up, Madam Mayor.”

“Make me.” Regina leans up and whispers it in her ear.

Emma doesn’t leave till the sun is rising again. She had even dozed off next to Regina for a couple of hours. She was shaken awake again at around 3:30 by a delightfully naked Regina who whispered “Were you going to let me shower alone?” No, Emma most certainly was not going to let that happen.

* * *

The benefit of getting back to the loft at 5am and not waking up until 8:30 was that Emma did not see Mary Margaret. She was not in the mood to talk about Mary Margaret’s weird ‘true love’ affair. The Sheriff station was also blessedly empty. Graham was nowhere to be seen. Finally things are going her way. She spends a pleasant afternoon sloppily completing paperwork and thinking about the night before. 

She treats herself to Granny’s for lunch. “Emma! I didn’t see you last night.” Mary Margaret is sitting at one of the barstools. Since when did teachers leave school during their lunch breaks? 

“Yeah I was busy.” She grumbles.

“Have you seen Graham today? He’s acting weird.”

“Yeah he’s been like that recently.”

“He came by my classroom this morning. He was asking me all sorts of questions, weird ones, like how long we’ve known each other and if I’ve seen a wolf recently.” Mary Margaret scrunches up her nose.

“A wolf? Shit, I’ll look into that.” If the Sheriff is being crazy does that mean it’s the deputy’s job to make sure he’s not a danger to others. 

* * *

It takes Emma a stupidly long time to find Graham. She keeps getting to places right after he’s left. When she gets to Mifflin st Henry is standing on the front porch. “Emma, Graham was just here.”

“What did he say to you?” She hoped Graham hadn’t been too weird around the kid. She knows Regina used to trust him to watch Henry. Henry seeing a positive role model be crazy is the last thing he needs.

“He knows the curse is real. He was asking me about who everyone is. He said he started remembering after he kissed you.”

“Wow kid that’s super inappropriate. He should not have said that to you.”

“It’s okay” Henry insists “he knows it’s real. He used to be mom’s Huntsman. He's looking for his heart cause she has it.”

This is the last thing Henry needs. “Listen, Graham is not doing well right now. He shouldn’t have kissed me and he shouldn’t have told you about it.”

“But it helped him remember cause you’re the Saviour.”

“I have to find him to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself.” Emma says more assertively. 

“He went that way.” Henry points, “I think he’s going towards the graveyard. He’s following the wolf, it’s his guide.”

She can deal with Henry later. “Stay right here okay? We’ll talk about this later.” Henry nods solemnly 

* * *

When she finally catches up to Graham he is rattling the locked doors of an ornate crypt. “What are you doing?”

“I need to see what’s in here.”

“It’s a crypt, there’s just ashes in there.” He’s losing it.

“You’re wrong.”

“Why did you go to Henry about this? That was inappropriate.” When did Emma become the kind of person who says inappropriate?

“He’s the only one in the town who’s making any sense.” Henry objectively wasn’t making sense. “My heart is in here and I need it.”

“Wait when Henry said ‘your heart’ you were talking literally?”

“It’s in here, I know it.”

“Okay listen. We’ll look in here, and if your heart's not in here, we’ll drop it.” 

Graham nods “I know it’s there.”

It takes Emma four kicks to get the door open. Graham scrambles around the crypt like a madman. There is one coffin in the centre and a couple of urns on the shelves. Graham shakes the urns and Emma prays that whoever this crypt belongs to doesn’t live in Storybrooke anymore. Graham is down on his hands and knees searching for a secret door that he insists has to be here. Emma can’t look.

A noise draws Emma’s attention to the door of the crypt. Regina is standing there with a bouquet of Calla Lilies and a horrified expression on her face. 


	5. Regina plans a funeral

They don’t have the hidden door open when Regina arrives at her vault. Regina is thankful for small mercies today. She was coming to see Daddy, and clear her head. She doesn’t like that Emma is with Graham after she’d been so insistent that nothing was going on between them. She doesn’t like that they were both so close to all her secrets. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” Graham snaps back. Normally Graham would never speak to her like this.

“I’m coming to pay respects to my father like I do every Wednesday.”

Emma was looking down at her feet like a little kid in trouble. “Come on.” She pulls Graham out of the crypt by the sleeve of his jacket. Regina steps aside to let them out. 

“It wasn’t Emma’s fault, I made her come down.” Is shockingly the first thing out of Graham’s mouth.

“Well Miss Swan, good thing your boyfriend is here to defend you.”

“Come on Regina.” Miss Swan is too comfortable with her, clearly. “I was just trying to help him out. I was just showing him that nothing suspicious was down here. I didn’t know whose crypt this was.”

“And what did you think was down there Sheriff Humbert?” She pronounces each syllable of his name deliberately. 

“Nothing...” He says very slowly, studying her expression. “I made a mistake.”

Emma lets out an audible sigh of relief. It feels good to have Emma appealing to her. ‘Yes, remember that. This was a mistake.” She commands confidently. She does not want to have to kill Graham but she is willing to do it if he continues to disrupt her curse. “You’ll fix the damage you’ve done to my family crypt of course.” She turns and prepares to walk away. “Are you mentally fit enough to be this town’s Sheriff? Or are you going to continue this ridiculous and criminal activity?”

“Come on, it’s just a bad day, he’s just drunk.” Why Emma feels the need to defend this man is beyond her. 

“No.” Graham’s tone has changed. Regina turns back to them. He’s glaring at her but also at Emma. “You’re never going to do what you need to do.” He says, to Emma. “You’re just pandering to her. You won’t fix anything.”

“I’m fixing this right now.” Emma snaps at him. “Come on, I’ll bring you home and you can sleep off whatever you’re on right now.”

“No. Where are you keeping it?” He demands of Regina. His heart is approximately six feet below where they are standing right now.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Where did you put my heart?” He roars. He runs at her and panic seizes her for a moment. She has no magic, and no sword. She hasn’t been attacked in decades. He grabs her by the collar and hoists her up so her toes just barely touch the ground. She grabs both of his wrists. His eyes are flashing. This is the kind of emotion that the Storybrooke zombies are not capable of.

If you cannot defend yourself the only thing you can do is bluff. She shoves down the panic and stays cool. “Unhand me or you’ll regret it.” 

“What will you do? Take my heart? You already have it. You have no real power here. You can’t do anything to me.” Regina has to struggle to keep her feet on the ground.

“Hey stop it!” Emma hollers. She’s trying to pull Graham away by his shoulder. He has to let go of Regina with one hand to focus on swatting Emma away. The soles of Regina’s shoes touch the ground again and she takes a deep breath. 

“Leave me be. This isn’t your business.” Graham is trying to pull his right arm out of Emma’s grasp. When he finally succeeds the momentum from his pulling propels his fist right into Regina’s face. 

He seems so surprised by this he drops her. Regina is equally as surprised. She feels warm blood on her lips. She hasn’t bled in... maybe twenty-six years. The last time she can remember bleeding was when she learned how to cook, while she was trying to deconstruct a chicken. 

The three of them are just standing there. In the dark in a graveyard, all breathing heavily. Graham is looking at his own fist in horror, there is a small speck of Regina’s blood on it she notices. Regina can hear the blood rushing in her ears. She feels shaken and alive in the way only Emma has made her feel. Emma is looking at her in a way Regina cannot describe. Regina numbly touches the blood on her face. Seeing it on her fingers is surreal. It feels like she has a fat lip, probably from the college ring that Graham wears, for a college he never went to. 

Graham slips away, quickly, like a shadow. He’s always been able to move like that. Emma starts to move and Regina half expects her to run after Graham but she comes to her instead. “Are you okay?” She tilts Regina’s head up with the very tips of her fingers. It is a move so intimate Regina forgets where they are for a second. This is not a segue into a night of sex, this is just Emma trying to survey the damage to her face.

Regina turns her head away. “Don’t be ridiculous, he just hit me.” She’s trying to hide her shock at being hit. Sure, she has been hit much harder and more regularly in the past. Even the brief moments where her airway was restricted were not a big deal compared to other things she’s experienced. Those things were a lifetime ago. She’s been living a safe and soft life for years. She touches the rumpled collar of her shirt. 

“Okay.” Thank god Emma does not fight her on this. “Can I walk you home?” What a ridiculous idea.

“Nonsense, I’m fine.”

“Listen um... Graham talked to Henry and said some crazy shit. And it’s not like you can hide that fat lip from him. I just think maybe I can help you smooth some things over.”

“Miss Swan, I have been a mother for ten years. I have been Henry’s mother for ten years, I do not need your help to  _ smooth some things over.” _ What does Emma know about children? What does Emma know about Henry? She’s a stranger, an annoying entitled stranger.

“Yeah, I know. But he’s kind of set on not believing anything you say right now. If I just tell him that you didn’t do anything... evil. Won’t that be helpful?”

“Ah yes because Miss Swan is a beacon of moral purity and everything she says and does is good and right and true and everything I say and do is an evil lie. Thank you, so much for reminding me.” She’s mad. She might be more upset than she is mad, but she is certainly mad.

“Come on, I didn’t ask for this.” She sounds hurt.

“No you didn’t. You left Henry and have had nothing to do with him for a decade while I chose him and loved him and gave him everything he needed.” Regina snaps. For a moment she thinks maybe Emma is going to cry. She turns away and starts walking towards Mifflin Street. When Emma doesn't follow she calls over her shoulder. “Come on Miss Swan. I’m not having Henry accusing me of evildoing tonight. 

* * *

Emma explains the situation to Henry with a shocking amount of gentleness and patience. Henry is eager to blame her, even as she stands with dried blood on her face. Emma explains that it was Graham and that Regina didn’t do anything, and that the mysterious place Graham was heading to was just the place where Regina’s family is buried. Henry looks at Regina like he had never considered her having a family before. Regina realizes the lilies never made it to Daddy’s coffin and feels guilty. 

Regina steals away to clean up her face. When she comes back downstairs she creeps to overhear what Henry and Emma are talking about in the living room. “Even if she did something to Graham in the past, he shouldn’t have done this. Henry she’s your mom, aren’t you upset she got hurt?”

The silence is heavy and Regina wants to cry, because no Henry doesn’t care if she gets hurt. Henry probably wouldn’t care if the curse broke and Snow and Charming executed her by firing squad in the middle of town square. “She’s the Evil Queen. It’s not like anything could actually hurt her.”

Emma sighs heavily. “Even if she is the Evil Queen, this is the land without magic right? She doesn’t have any way to defend herself, or heal herself because there's no magic here. She’s just a normal person.” It’s strange to hear Emma defend her. “You can’t tell me you don’t care at all what happens to her.”

“I didn’t like the blood.” Henry finally admits. “It was scary.”

“I know kid. Tomorrow I’m going to figure out what is happening with Graham. I’m going to make sure that he’s not a danger to anyone. If this is what happens when one person remembers, breaking the curse might be kind of dangerous.” Emma has no idea. Regina knows Emma is only talking about the curse to humour Henry, but she has no idea how right she is. It’s why she has to leave before she starts to believe. 

She kicks Emma out before dinner. Emma has been giving her the cold shoulder this whole time anyways and Henry has been remarkably reserved since his conversation with Emma. He remains silent throughout dinner and bedtime. At the very end of night he asks “Does your lip hurt?” He’s so sweet at this moment. He reminds Regina of him from a year ago, when they used to read stories together before bed and go for walks when it was sunny out.

Regina says “It’s okay, thank you for asking.” And he goes to bed without any protest. It’s a small blessing.

* * *

Emma shows up again a couple hours later. Regina wonders if maybe she should stop with this. If Emma is getting attached to her maybe severing this connection will encourage her to leave Storybrooke. Tonight isn’t the night for it though. Maybe Regina will let the attachment fester and then blow it up in a destructive way when she has more energy. For now, having Emma on her side and in her bed is better than the alternative

Emma kisses her in the doorway. “Ow” Regina says softly touching her fat lip. She plays up her pout a little. Emma’s performance in the graveyard made it clear that she likes playing the hero. Emma rolls her eyes, like they’re old friends sharing a joke. If Regina plays this right she can break Emma’s heart before the curse breaks and send her packing. This is a better plan than all fighting. She’s sure of it.

Emma kisses her bottom lip gently. “Better?” Regina nods, and lets a smile play at her lips. Regina lets Emma fall asleep in her bed afterwards. She’s a little surprised to find her gone when she wakes up in the morning, the bed is still warm though.

* * *

She sees Emma again at 11:35, She is pleased with herself that Emma can’t even wait half a day to come to her office. Emma’s expression rattles her. “Um... Graham is dead.” She says so quietly Regina wonders if she heard her right. No one can just die under the curse.

“What?”

“I uh found his car this morning. It looked like he crashed trying to leave town. I think he was on drugs or something and that's why he was...” she gestures vaguely, “acting like that.” Emma looks down at her feet. “I wanted to tell you first, so you could know and like talk to the kid or something.”

“Okay.” Regina says, because she herself is as shocked as Emma is. People don’t die in the curse. The only way they could is if Regina killed them. People don’t even get hurt under the curse. It’s been twenty-eight years. It just doesn’t happen. The curse is deteriorating.

* * *

Telling Henry is hard. Both because Regina suspects he blames her and because he cries. This reaction makes Regina feel guilty that she considered killing Graham. Clearly Henry has some sort of attachment to him. She’d be relieved about Graham’s death if she wasn’t so concerned about the implication of it and she feels strangely bad about that.

There’s a funeral. Regina plans it, because who else would? She plans it to keep up appearances. Everything she needs for the funeral is suddenly there, like it always is under the curse. There were always empty plots at the graveyard. There has always been a mortuary in the basement of the hospital. The curse has a way of providing for her. 

Emma is cagey in the days leading up to the funeral. Regina doesn’t understand why until she overhears her and Mary Margaret discussing her campaign for the Sheriff office. Regina had made her plans to appoint Sydney public. She had the right to appoint a candidate but technically anyone could run against that candidate. She’d never considered anyone would. No one would consider running against her wishes except Emma Swan. 

Regina feels oddly betrayed. She feels a fool for thinking she could drive Emma out without a fight. Deputy is one thing but Sheriff is another. If Emma runs there will have to be an election. Emma can’t win. If Emma is determined enough to fight her and win Nothing Regina can do will send her away


End file.
